Avatar: the War of Two Titans
by ReadandEnjoy
Summary: The world was at peace, but now evil forces have broken all of it apart and reignited the war. With all but one of the nations conquered by the enemy Aang and the others must flee to the north pole to fight back! Sequel to Avatar: Secret of the Black Vine
1. Chapter 1

**I have returned, and I'm writing again (though not quite as well as my jaw hasn't healed completely yet, but the surgery went well) Here we return, even after all that they went through a year of trials and struggles and even after triumphing it fell. One person from Aang's past lives remains to hunt him much like Sozin did. The world has fallen around Aang and the others; Zuko overthrown, the Earth Kingdom is under the thumb of Long Feng, and the Southern Watertribe barely escaped being ruled over as well. Now the free people of the world must flee to the one remaining stronghold, the Northern Watertribe, and now they must gather together and strike back against an enemy blitzkrieg. The first question to be answered of whether or not they can fight off this enemy they must first reach the safety of the North Pole.**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN Avatar the Last Airbender**

**This story is the sequel to the FanFic; **

**Avatar: the Last Airbender, Secret of the Black Vine**

**If you have not yet read the first part please do so, otherwise you will be completely lost.**

**Also; this story travels further OOC then the last one did as I am pulling us further into their older selves and the characters are going to grow into the world as it expands so will they!**

**Now let the story begin… again… kind of… *cough cough***

**Avatar: the Last Airbender, the War of Two Titans**

**Chapter 1: The Edge of the Storm**

Aang threw his glider over board; it looped high above him as he dived into the sky and launched into the night before the convoy. As he didn't want to cause Appa more discomfort, as he had been flying for quite some time, he left the bison aboard the ship and continued his patrol solo. He had kissed Katara goodbye again as he had left. She was looking stretched recently, and was beginning to show exhaustion, so he had made Sokka promise to get her to rest. He thought how she would be asleep right now probably, and then he imaged it, her smile still etched in his mind. She had been the one thing he still had after the war was over, she was there for him when it began, and at the end she was there still. Even now with the rest of the world again out of balance, she remained of the world of peace they had made together, technically the others remained as well but she meant more to him than anyone. Suddenly he saw the front of a storm brake through the sky and his train of thought was broken.

He would have to scout out further ahead to determine whether or not this storm was dangerous to move toward with the fleet. He had been flying high at cloud top so now he dived and sped toward the storm at low altitude, checking the wave height and wind at the surface as well as increasing his speed to check the storms size and direction. Aang wanted to check this quickly as he didn't wish to be far from the fleet for long. He didn't trust this area in the sea and definitely didn't want to leave them with lower defenses after what he had found a few days ago. The storm was moving west toward the earth kingdom coast and was too large to steer the fleet around, it was also moving fast enough to mean they wouldn't make it by it before it hit the earth kingdom coast and they would be stuck In the middle of the storm. Aang supposed they could stop at its edge and wait for it to pass without losing too much time but he didn't want to sit still for any period of tie. Again the images from his patrol two days ago played through his mind.

Aang was flying low just like he was now at the mouth of a river that let inland to the interior of the Earth Kingdom. He was checking on another storm then, one they had missed because it was small and fast moving, he had then noticed something just within the storm, several shapes in the water about ten miles off the coast, back grounded by the lightning of the storm. Aang arrived in the darkness of the storms shadow to investigate and the sight he found would haunt him, he knew, for the rest of his life. A small earth kingdom fleet, about a 6 of the size of the fleet Aang had mustered, was there. Or the remains of it were, the fleet was sinking, all 6 of the ships were burned and had signs of bombs being dropped on them. Aang flew in close and found more, the signs of water and earth bending also pocketed the ships decks as they slipped beneath the stormy waves. One of the ships was capsized so he could clearly see several holes in the hull, and then the most important and horrifying clues fell into his gaze. He looked to the middle and largest of the ships, which was sinking slowly backwards, as he flew around he found why. It was one of the ships that were once used by the earth kingdom to move refugees, and as he saw the stern he found its fatal wound. The entire rear half of the ships was gone, separated from the bow as though the vessel had been sliced in half by a giant sword and sent to the depths. He didn't half to wonder how the ships was attacked, or by whom, the next thing he found was that every vessel he could see still had the life boats attached, or at least the majority was. He saw a few empty life boats as well, but they were bobbing aimlessly in the high surf, slowly sinking and splattered with red. He had stopped his thought there and his investigation, he didn't want to continue to gaze upon the clear massacre. He turned away and sped toward his own fleet so as to protect it. The refugee fleet had been attacked barely ten minutes before Aang found it; the Earth Kingdom symbols on the ships had been covered in white cloth to indicate that they were neutral refugees.

Aang was furious and he grinding his teeth as he sailed on the wind toward his friends. He flew through the dark cloud of the storm and came across one final clue that he wished with all his heart, more than anything, he could forget. A white flag sheered from its posting and blowing in the air. A flag of surrender and in an instant Aang's mind played the events out. Ozai's airship was patrolling for signs of Aang, he came across that fleet and they surrendered, unable to fight; as they didn't have Aang Ozai lost interest in them. He saw them as insects and so attacked them and bombed their vessels, and even went so far as to practice his Sun Saber on them, and in the end he made certain to leave no witnesses. Ozai saw them as target practice and training for him troops. Aang was hit then by a thought that hit him like a strike from the fowl demon of a man himself… "If I had been more decisive…" he said to himself as he felt pain and regret and guilt at the same moment.

Aang was snapped back to the present as he came across his fleet, the sight of that massacre to his left about 20 miles west and 50 miles south, was the grave of those many people. He now looked below him and saw the deck of the flagship to his 40 ship fleet that he was escorting to the North Pole. It had grown as they had met about 11 more ships since they had Kioshi Island as they headed north and they had joined the convoy to protect each other. Aang landed on the deck and headed to the bridge to speak with Sokka, Chief Hakota, and the others.

"Hey Aang, how was patrol?" Sokka asked as he saw Aang enter the bridge.

"There is a large storm about 10 miles ahead, it's hidden behind that white cloud there but it's big, really big. I don't think we can out run it and pass between it and the earth kingdom before it would trap us between it and the shore. It's also too big to go around without wasting a lot of time and going way to close to that rumored island." Aang explained, pointing to the map that was on a table in the room, he indicated a rather crudely added marking to the left of the model ship indicating the fleet. And then to the earth kingdom markings to the right as well as pulling a large fluff of cotton in order to indicate an map out the edges of the storm as he had scouted it. "We definitely have to avoid that island at all costs, so I guess we have only two options."

"Stop at the edge of the storm and wait for it to clear, or-"Hakota began

"Continue this course and try to wade through the storm…" Sokka finished as his eyes darted about the map. Toph just huffed; she wasn't very fond of sea travel and didn't like the sound of driving a bunch of tin cans into a storm.

"I don't know if that's wise… Aang how big of waves are we talking?" Teo added from the chair he sat in, steering the ship.

"About 40 foot swells, not something we would normally try, but if we put two water benders per ship we should be able to eliminate that problem. And we have enough to do just that." Sokka pleaded, he didn't like the thought, but he wasn't going to support stopping in their tracks and waiting. "If we sit and wait, we might as well be painting a giant target on our deck…"

"True but we can't just dive straight into that storm; you know that they could hit us in there just as easily as out here. If we do get attacked I say we should at least give them as few advantages as possible." Toph reasoned to them, she was much clearer on what she wanted, which was to be ready for battle that she didn't want to come at all.

"There is one more option…" Aang added, "I could use storm bending to cut a path through the storm for us, I can't turn the storm away completely but I think I can at least make it a lot calmer around us." He had been training instead of really sleeping; he would enter his past and go to train with a few of his past lives that knew the process of storm bending. He couldn't actually practice with them really, as bending didn't seem to work in the spirit world. But he still could get the basics, learning from several various Airbender avatars, even though he was still searching for the one who had created the technique. He was finding it almost impossible to do, as he had reached back only 100 Avatars, and having done so he found that he couldn't go any further. Interestingly, out of those 100 past lives, only 4 knew storm bending, and each appeared in about 25 life increments, each learned it to deal with a special circumstance. He had tried to get them to explain what they meant by that, but it seemed that they all were collectively against telling him anything about what had happened to cause their mastering of this dangerous art. "Even though they are me they won't tell me anything, I still have to learn from them…stupid stubborn Avatars…" Aang muttered silently under his breath, but the others noticed and gave him odd looks. He just laughed and rubbed his bald head, which they took to a queue to chuckle themselves and then get back to coordinating the water benders for the storm run.

"Hey Aang, would you mind going and waking Katara up? We need her to get on deck so we are ready to move!" Sokka waved up to the observation deck where Aang was just starting to meditate o he could begin the storm bending. This however had ended when Sokka's shrill voice echoed through Aang's once peaceful thoughts like an explosion.

"Yeah alright…" he answered after shaking this rude awakening off and he headed down the stairs behind him to go and find Katara. He rounded a corner on the third deck, in the middle of the ship and walked down four doors and knocked three times on the door to the room. He slid the light stone door to the side and entered the cabin. It was modestly furnished and dark with the wooden shutters covering the circular window on the side opposite the hatch. A bed was set against the wall to the right with a chair set across from a couch to the left. The bed was covered in a thin sheet of cloth that formed the silhouette of a person, curled slightly and heaving up and down with the stead breath of the sleeping form. Katara's battle robe was draped over a stand of it like a model dummy, the arms of the stand outstretched so that the blue robes large sleeves fell toward the floor in a flowing way. Aang tip toed past the flowing robe which was very light and thusly fluttered slightly as a breeze entered the room. This same chilled air caused the sleeping mass to shutter slightly and hoist the covers to her chin.

Aang saw a stream of light come through a crack in the shutters and fall over Katara; he thought he was seeing an angel in his mind, especially from her flowing hair shining in the sun that had come from behind a cloud. He stared at her for a moment, lost in thought and memories from the peaceful time they had shared at dust in Ba Sing Se. Ba Sing Se- that was the thought that brought him to the present again- the thought of the city, and of the people, and of the man named Long Feng sitting on the throne. "Katara… Katara, it's time to wake up." Aang whispered into her ear as he bent down and gave her a small kiss on her forehead.

"Hmmm?" Katara opened her eyes slowly, closed them again and smiled as Aang placed a kiss on her head, she opened her eyes again and sat up slightly, clutching with one hand the cover up to her neck line, the other hand brushed her hair over her ear as she smiled up to the young man with the blue arrow on his forehead. "What's up?" she asked as he sat on the edge of the bed looking out into the room, he moved one hand in a circle a pushed forward with it, a vortex of air floating over to the window and pulling the shutters open. The fresh sea air poured into the room as Katara sat up against the headboard, she let the cover fall which revealed her to be wearing only her usual under garments that she used to go swimming and sleep in.

"We need to get ready; we're about to head through a storm and need all the benders we can get." Aang said sluggishly as he was still in thought about Ba Sing Se; Katara however, noticed his distracted demeanor and so turned him around to face her as he sat crookedly on the bed and she threw the covers from the bed. She kissed him like she had that night in Ba Sing Se, wrapping her arms around his neck and drawing him close as she deepened the kiss, biting his lip slightly. She pulled him back as she layed down, his hands on her hips as he lay above her she bit his lower lip and kissed him yet deeper. They were alone in a world of bliss, nothing but the two of them, nothing but their love. And then a roll of suddenly close thunder stirred them both from their stupor. Aang sat up and smiled as Katara groaned and smirked, her forearm over her eyes and her hair sprawled on the bed behind her. "Duty calls." He said as he leaned down again and kissed her lips then stood and went to stand in the corner. Katara groaned again as he walked away and so she too got up and pulled her hair into her usual style. She walked over to the robe stand and pulled the large combat robe over her shoulders, then wrapped the shawl around herself and tied the large ribbon into a traditional knot. She then took a basic stance and raised her arms loosely in the air. A stream of water flowed through the open window and formed a ring of water around her. With another movement like the sheathing of a blade the water flowed into several caps placed about the robe, the areas behind them suddenly inflated with the water which caused her to have a slightly bloated look but also meant she was twice as dangerous.

"So how do I look?" she baited Aang, who was smiling to himself as he watched her from his corner, he stepped forward and chuckled as he spoke.

'Honestly, that robe makes you look bigger when you add the 20 pounds worth of water." He snickered, but Katara's frown cut his laugh off.

"Oh, so now I'm bloated?" she asked warningly, she was laughing inwardly, but was still surprised he had taken that bait which was an obvious moment to say something completely opposite to what he had said. "Is that it?"

"No, I'm just saying it adds a lot of water weight!" Aang backed into the corner and shrank, and again Katara burst out laughing inside but frowned on the outside. Aang was tactless and his attempts and humor were pitiful to be honest. Katara turned from him in a huff, and he took his chance, moving swiftly behind her he wrapped his arms around her waist, leaning his head next to his ear. "You're the most beautiful woman in the world, and I personally can't believe you choose me." Aang began, and then stopped as Katara twisted her head back; placing her hand on his cheek she kissed him. She smiled and turned to him before walking to the hatch and then heading up to the deck. Aang looked out the window before he too headed up to the deck, and as he glance out he noticed the sky darkening, the ship rocked harder, and the wind picked up. Aang headed to the main deck, stepping out of the bulkhead he looked about. Toph and Teo were holding hands as Teo described the storm front before them to them; Sokka was giving orders to a few water benders who quickly headed to the boats on the side of the ship to spread out amongst the fleet. He saw Suki tying her Kyoshi battle armor over her robes from Trio Shu while she motivated the Kyoshi Warriors to stations; they were like the marines of the ship who would repel borders in an attack. Katara was stretching as she gazed out at the storm barreling down on them; she was clearly stiff and a bit agitated at being interrupted a few moments before. He stepped forward into the light as the shadow of the storm loomed before them. All heads turned to him, as if expecting him to make some important speech, and so he tried on the fly.

"This is it, we, um… we can do this and um… huh u yeah…." Crash and burn… Katara and Suki were laughing, Teo and Toph just shook their heads, and Sokka looked understanding, clearly memories of the eclipse had come up. So he rescued the bald guy.

"Ok troops, there are a lot of people counting on us and we aren't going to let them down. Now these clouds may very well be a storm that the Arbiter is bending at us, so we can't trust that it's going to be smooth sailing." Sokka boomed to those on the deck, "We have faced worse before and come out on top, now let's get to our positions people!" Sokka and the others headed to the bow, Aang nodded gratefully and then jumped high through the air and took his place at the top of the bridge, taking a stance he breathed in deeply and push his hand forward, But before he completed the form to break the clouds up the storm front shattered the cloud wall broken by the eruption of three Airships, two at the flanks of a Knoxium like craft. Aang's eyes widened as he saw the fire plume from the bomb cannons and saw the shapes of three cylinders tumbled through the air. He faintly heard Sokka voice below, "Remember what I said about facing worse, I take it back!" Aang knew full well they had faced worse, but three bombs heading for their ship wasn't good. His eyes tracked the first bomb and realizing it would hit Katara, and stepping forward he acted instinctively.

_Airship, Observation deck (two days prior)_

"My lord, the crews are reporting that they are ahead of schedule and the additional workers from Long Feng are due to arrive tomorrow. We predict that this will make launch possible within a year's time." The man spoke as he bowed to the man in the dark flowing robes. He was gazing out over the railing at the scene below.

"Perfect." Was all he spoke, the ground below parked in the night, lighting up the large structure below as it was pressed Against the Wall of the city, edged into the lake outside of Bas Sing Se in a massive dry dock as the night was lit by the work below, the thunder of the surrounding storm that rimmed the city drowned out by the din of the hammer on steel below. "Send messages to general Ozai… tell him to turn south and head into the storm there, then to wait on the southern edge for a special target."

**Hope you have enjoyed the beginning of this story's middle and I hope your review. I know it's not quite as close to the way the original was as other continuations, but it is set further from the end, so it is going to be further from the original. Hope you have enjoyed this and please continue to read this story. Also, i am splitting writing time with this story and my Continuation on the Mortal Instruments series, which if you like my work you should defenately look at.**

**Next Chapter: Chapter 2, the Eye of the Storm**


	2. Chapter 2: The Eye of the Storm

**I'm back assuming you guys can show appreciation for the hours it takes to dream up and write down this stuff. I haven't gotten any reviews on this story yet, that why I haven't been writing it (thank you to those who finally did review). If you guys can at least act interested I might find the time to write, so please review, it really does help.**

**Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN Avatar: the Last Airbender**

**Chapter 2: The Sea and Sky Aflame**

Aang didn't wait to be given an invitation to act, he just acted. He flung his foot up and forced his will into the round kick to generate a whirlwind of air that grew as it soared skyward until it came into contact with the three bombs in a line. The tornado caught them each in turn and spun them about until two collided inside of it. This detonated them and the shrapnel now contained in the twister set the third bomb off. However Aang was not about to get comfortable, however he was not so foolish as to move to attack the airships without letting them make another move, perhaps one he could counter instead of simply block. Katara below shouted orders at the other water benders, trying to calm the storm churned seas down to protect the fleet. Sokka was busy moving several soldiers into place as he prepared to repel borders, and Hakota ran to the bridge to take the helm.

Another volley sounded with low thuds from the lower cannons of the approaching airships, and Aang was prepared. He took careful aim and kicked forward, blasting one of the bombs into the cannon which had fired it. He brought his palm about and sent another into the side of a nearby airship which he hoped would cripple it. Finally he used a burst of flame to detonate the third. He wanted to deal with Ozai personally. Katara and the others below where busy bending the waves away. The storm was without rain, but the waves had grown to monstrous proportions and had reached heights of 80 feet at times. The Airships seemed to have moved into reverse and where now staying slightly in front of the fleet as it tried to navigate the treacherous waters. This was not a usual storm, and Aang was not able to bend it away. One of the Airships, the one that had been struck in its starboard side by a bomb return was losing altitude and falling out to the right of the formation. Its bridge exploded in a burst of flame from within as it fell.

"One down two to go, Toph, three o'clock high!" Sokka shouted only to receive a look of 'you're an idiot…' by Toph. He sighed and walked over to move her hand in perfect aim at the left side ship. She nodded and slammed her foot into the stone deck of the earth kingdom ship, summoning up a large ring of rock (and leaving a big hole in the deck) which she thrust into the air. It was very well aimed and struck the port engine system which burst into flame and sent the ship on a collision course with the larger flagship in the middle of the formation.

"Ha Ha! This is just too easy ain't it!" Sokka exclaimed in delight as he watched the now giant missile head to destroy the largest obstacle in the formation. Even Aang wasn't sure if Ozai was present now, after all he hadn't shown himself and this opponent was child's play…

_Knoxium, Arbiter Private Quarters_

"Milord, the man you requested has arrived." The chief guard announced after bowing respectfully. He left after the Arbiter nodded in the shadows only to return a moment later with a rather small and pudgy man following him. The guard left and the door closed.

"Aw, you must be the infamous Arbiter." The man said.

"And you the ingenious Master Poi Tri, the greatest mind of the Firenation."

"In the flesh. Firelord Azula said you had need of my services." The man was smiling until this point, when a frown graced his old face. "Interesting occurrence, here I was merely trying to present her with a gift to commemorate her coronation and the next thing I know your men have me bound and shipped off to this place," the man calmed himself, "Care to tell me what you want so I can get back to my life, Arbiter?"

"Your straight to the point aren't you." the Arbiter said before producing some rough design sketches, "I want you to lead a very important project, the creation of this. You will have the all the items you will need and any amount of laborers you require."

Poi Tri frowned, "And why should I do this for you?"

At that moment the Arbiter clenched his fist and the old man fell to the floor as the air was pulled from his lungs. The Arbiter had been practicing some Airbending on the prisoners, and head learned how the take their breath way, literally. After a brief moment to let it sink in the Arbiter released him from his grip and let the man recover. "Point taken, I'll get to work immediately." He wheezed out in pain as the Arbiter smiled.

"Send the next one in as you exit please…" the Arbiter said to the man as he left. A few minutes later another man entered. "Ah, Gruh Hinay, I hear you're rather efficient at recovering los technology from ruins. Is that right?"

"Yes, as the lead instructor from Ba Sing Se University on Ancient technologies I know very well the delicate art of retrieval. However I specialize in water salvage, I don't know how much use I can be for your desert team." The man bragged in clear enjoyment of flaunting his title and knowledge.

"Desert? Who leaked that to you I wonder?" The Arbiter asked politely but with dark and evil glaring eyes peering at the man.

Gruh gulped as he caught the glare but moved forward; "I cannot say, I assumed that would be your target, after some old texts or something…" he lied through his teeth; he did not like the fact that this boy was staring him down.

The Arbiter softened his gaze, he knew he was lying but that was of little consequence at the moment. "You misunderstand professor, I need you to head north, not into the desert." He gestured to a point on the map before him. "And your water experience is exactly what I need… tell me, what do you know of the Air Nomads?"

_Eastern Ocean, the Avatar's Fleet_

The black shapes grew ever nearer to their collision. Despite the differences in size between the two vessels, if they collided the battle would be over before it truly began. This would seem cruel fate to the men aboard, their own guns and one shot would destroy their entire force, poetic justice for the attack on the other refugee fleet. But how could this be the ships that attack them, it was clear that those ships had been led by Ozai, and were that the case now they would surely not be so close to disaster. "Where are you Ozai?" Aang growled under his breath. He was glad this attack was a complete failure, however he couldn't lie to himself (without locking his chakras) that he was hoping to find Ozai, and make him pay for the massacre he committed. However, as the two vessels closed in one another everything changed.

A red light formed at the tip of the largest craftiest. The whole surround forming into a dusk like scene. Before Aang or the others could react a straight beam pierced the clouded sky and sliced downward and cut the colliding smaller craft in two. The fire that ensued engulfed the separated halves as they plummeted straight down, almost landing on one of the foremost refugee ships. Sokka reacted first by signaling one of the few cannons they had to fire; the shot knocked the flaming ship to the side of the fleet with a slight push from one of the Waterbenders waves. Sokka was knocked over by a fist in the side from Toph, "You JINXED us you Moron!" Toph shouted as the rest rushed to prepare to evacuate the ships. If they were hit by that attack there was nothing to be done.

Aang didn't intend to let Ozai get that chance; he flew toward the origin of the shot and struck out with a burst of air infused with fire at the bow of the vessel. He continued toward the not smoldering area of his strike to check what he had shot, he was so focused on attacking he didn't think as to why he hadn't noticed Ozai there at the start of the battle or as to why he hadn't seen him prepare to attack sooner. His mind was on the anger he felt when he had seen the other felt that was brutally destroyed, and that distraction had clouded his mind. He wouldn't let it happen again. He crouched and turned about, the circular motion indicative of airbending building the power beneath him as he aimed up at the point he last saw Ozai at. He jumped and focused on using the air currents that were pushing him to make it up to the ship. His new robe had several places at which the air pooled and pushed him higher, though he still wasn't used to the new and elaborate robe. Regardless of what his personal feelings were, this was going too far. Ozai had to be stopped, and since he couldn't be restrained Aang knew he might have to finish it. "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it." He thought out loud as he landed on the bow platform and took his stance to fight. He scanned the area for his target, yet all he saw was himself.

_Icaria, Firenation Fleet Flagship in route to the Northern Water Tribe_

Zuko breathed deeply the familiar cold air that had nearly killed him last he was here; he still remembered that the first true act of mercy from his new friends was to save him from that harsh chill. He mused to himself about something his Uncle had once said, on the boat to Ba Sing Se; he was a conqueror and then a tourist. "If only it were a touring stop, and not the end of peace and balance." He muttered.

"Are you talking to yourself gain?" Mai asked in an irritated tone, she had just entered the bridge and was fully dressed in thick robes. Mai hated the cold and, not being a firebender, she couldn't use her chi to warm herself.

"Uh… no I was just… -sigh- yes, I suppose I was." He stumbled but coughed and regained his composure, now turning to Nakito and thinking for a moment. "WE won't be the only fleet coming up here for refuge, the earth kingdom fell long before this and the people there began fleeing immediately. My Uncle was trying to push the refugees north, and I have no doubt he succeeded."

"You know more than I do milord, but what does all that mean?" Nakito responded with a slight flush of annoyance.

"It means that the Northern Water tribe should be expecting refugees and that we should be able to find it without too much trouble." Zuko explained with frustration, he had caught the Commanders annoyed expression. "The Northern Watertribe is normally hidden behind whole glaciers and a maze of ice. It's all but impossible to reach without harm, but with them expecting refugees they should have cleared the way and be guiding ships outside the city."

"Now I see. Lieutenant, post men out on the deck and have them look for any sign of the Water Tribe. Helmsmen, watch you heading. This place is covered in dangerous icebergs and we aren't equipped for them."

Zuko was pleased the Commander was so understanding but still wasn't about to let all the orders come from him, "Have the other ships form three columns and follow our course as closely as possible. Get the War Balloons into the air and have them start looking about for any sign of the city!" he barked at the young officer manning the communication center.

_Eastern Ocean, the Avatar's Fleet_

Aang stared at his reflection, but still saw something else. The mirror was curved out and on a pivot system, and at the top o the mirror he saw an upside down reflection of Ozai, grinning at him. He looked for the source, and looking up found another mirror hung off the bow with a tunnel leading into the ship. He also saw Ozai raise his hand, a red orb forming in it as he prepared to strike. Aang however thought fast, and brought his foot up to send a blade of air through the beam that held the smaller mirror. It plummeted, and without its reflection point there, the beam fired harmlessly out the tunnel and into the sky, the clouds parting in its path as the night shown red. "You monster!" Aang roared at the mirror before him.

Aang pressed on by punching hard at the reflective surface before him. He used air to push the glass away, and with what little Metalbending he could manage to crack the steel behind and show him what lay behind. There, sitting on a large number of cushions was Ozai, looking triumphant. "OZAI!" he roared, his anger coming to a head at the thought of how he sat there, smiling while he had just recently killed his own men. His tattoos flashed and he kicked hard. The Air he unleashed made the whole ship tremble as the bow was ripped apart. Ozai stood and took his stance, he was well aware that the Avatar was beyond him. But he also knew the boy was not a stone cold judge. He was not willing to fight to all he could. It would be his demise. "I can never forgive you for this Ozai. You've gone too far!" Aang shouted with emphasis on the last word as he struck out at Ozai with a burst of flame. He was trying to mix up his style so as to throw the man off.

"Then kill me Avatar!" Ozai replied as he dodged Aang's first strike. Ozai tried to retaliate with a burst of fire from his palm but found it futile. Aang had used his speed to close the distance. As Ozai struck Aang knocked the flame to the edge of his body with a well placed burst of air. He then slid his foot and turned it, pressing with his heel. Another burst of air blew the cushions away and wit the turn of his foot the metal floor buckled and encased Ozai's foot. Aang didn't hesitate to press his advantage and then pressed his hands forward, water flowing from several hidden compartments around his body and forming into ice over the stunned Ozai, who was spread eagle in shock. Aang then acted on knowledge from his past; subconsciously the other avatars were pressing him onward.

"You're too dangerous to be left alive!" Aang spoke harshly, and with a slight echo as if he was in the avatar state. His tattoos did not glow outright, but rather glimmered slightly. Aang brought his arms around in a full circle, energy flowing from each and brought them together. Ozai was shocked and a sheer look of horror crossed his face as Aang brought the right hand up and took aim, Had he read the boy wrong, Ozai wondered if that would be his last mistake. Aang grunted, "No." he choked out, all too late, and jumped forward at Ozai, who breathed sharply.

_Icaria; In route to the Northern Water Tribe_

"Watch for under-sea ice. A ship this large has little time to react." Zuko advised.

"You seem rather knowledgeable of this kind of think my lord. Where did you learn all of this?" Nakito asked as he nodded for the helmsmen to comply. The helmsmen then started talking into a tube near him to those on deck.

"My Uncle and I traveled the world, searching for years to find the Avatar. When we first ran into him, it was in the South Pole. After that we ran in to him numerous other times, including once here at the Northern water tribe."

"You're an amazing person my lord. I see why Mai is so- ugh!" he grunted as the ship suddenly listed hard to one side. Zuko however reacted quicker than the commander had, and was already out of the bridge and looking down to see what the trouble was. He found it to be several small Watertribe boats, and a huge wall of ice creeping up the edge of the ship. Zuko wanted to shout a plea for peace first, but knew the ship might not be able to take the force. He instead slid down the sharp grade the ship had taken to the ice. Here he started trailing fire to melt it. As he slid down the ship righted its self and the boats scattered, save the one the Waterbenders were on and thus the one the ice led to.

"Don't attack us, we are friendly!" Zuko shouted, realizing he was sliding toward them with fire behind him but still he had to try. However the benders reacted as was expected. Unable to see their faces one of the (there were five total) struck. A pillar of ice formed to block Zuko's path. Zuko just breathed fire to burn through it. He then landed on the boat, and ducking one strike had to sweep two of them to the ground. As another burst of water rose to his face he reacted instinctively by burning through it and continuing with another punch breathed in flame. Before he could stop himself he feared he would hit the man. However another fist of flame grabbed his and put his fire out. He was then pulled forward. This Zuko tried to fight but was pulled onward, not in to a grapple, instead into a hug.

"Zuko! I was so worried!" a familiar and welcome voice choked out from beneath the mask and coat.

"Uncle?"

**That the end of chapter two, I'm finding some time to write but I won't waste my time if no one reads. Review if you liked, if you didn't, or if you'd like to become an editor for the story, lord knows I need one.**

**Next Chapter 3: To Bear the World is a Heavy Burden**


	3. Chapter 3: the Sea and Sky Aflame

**We left off with several Cliffhangers (Muhahahaha) and its time to resolve a few of them. Will the fleets arrive safely at the North Pole, or will the forces of the world continue to run rampant? Red and Review please…**

**Note: since the world is a sphere and the map of the world for the Avatar isn't reflective of such I have taken a little liberty. I have develop and new area between the Earth and Fire Nations, as described in the beginning of this chapter, It's a bit OOC but hey, it's a fan fiction, so we can't really avoid going OOC at times.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Avatar: the Last Airbender**

**Chapter 3: The Sea and Sky Aflame**

_Knoxium, Command Deck_

The large crafts slowly descended toward the misty clouds below. They had been cruising at a high altitude for several days and were only now beginning to lower toward the ground below. Their location was the largest sea on the planet. Widely unexplored this body of water lies between the Fire and Earth nations, however it is not shown on most maps and is mostly ignored by the people of the world. If one travels east from Bas Sing Se and reached the edge of the Earth kingdom they would have met this body of water. Likewise travel west from the edge of the Fire Nation and you would find yourself at its edge. In the centuries past many have traveled across it in hopes of finding new lands, however they only find small islands and nothing of consequence comes from them. It is here that the Knoxium and its three escort ships were headed, and it is here that the Arbiter plans to change the world. "Captain, have we arrived yet?" the boy asked as he sat on his pillow throne at the bow of the ship, the controls behind him.

"Milord, I have no way to answer you. As I have said before we have no map of this place and-"

"Did you follow the heading and speed I directed to the letter, captain?" The boy interrupted the man with a very kind and sensitive voice, but it was dipped in venom.

The man swallowed, "Not exactly sir, but-"

"And why was that Captain?"

"Well, we came to a large storm and had to slow our speed, then there was the resupply in Chi Shu, and-"

"Spare me your excuses!" the boy roared, his anger suddenly at a head. He gripped and pulled from the man, drawing the air from his lungs. He let him choke and fall to the ground for a second before turning to another man on the bridge. "What did you scouts find?"

"Well- We uh-." the captain choked out loud again.

"Speak quickly." The Arbiter demanded.

"Well, there is nothing beneath us sir, and the other scouts have yet to find any islands in the area." He glanced nervously at the Captain, still choking next to him. As he looked back at the Arbiter he saw his face curl into a wicked smile.

"Excellent." He released his grip on the Captain who gulped air, coughed, and huddled on the ground. "You were fortunate, Captain, somehow we managed to end up right where I wanted anyway."

The Captain slowly got to his feet, all the while catching his breath from the Arbiters punishment. "But, sir, there is *cough cough* nothing around here." The Captain wheezed as he braced himself against the map table before him.

"Perfect, lower the ship and anchor us above the water, I'll be meditating. You have three hours." He ordered to the men on deck, they all stopped what they were doing and bowed as he exited the bridge. They then set to work; again he had ordered a job that was to be done in Five hours, into a job for three.

"Damn it, this is getting ridiculous." The Captain said as he nodded to the helm to lower the ship, "Send a message to the other ships to follow suit." Since they weren't allowed to move from this spot they would just have to slowly lower the ship by releasing the air.

_Avatar's Fleet, Nearing the Eye of the storm_

The storm was still growing worse as they neared the eye. The large Airship however seemed to be in a pocket of little turbulence as it glided steadily downward to the fleet below. In truth, it was in full reverse so as to stay ahead of them and keep its cannons trained. However, as the water benders below battled to intercept the falling shells. They had slowly been shuttling the civilians that were on the forward ships to the rear line. Several of the ships had burns on their stone sidings, and the ship Toph and Sokka lead was missing its bridge entirely, though Toph was steering it with her bending. However, all of this was merely a prelude to the battle waging within the nose of the Airship. It was here that this whole affair would be decided.

"No!" Aang groaned, but it was too late, his past lives had pushed him to make the decisive blow, and there was little he could do to stop it. Though deep down he was still unyielding in his will to spare Ozai, His mind went back to the time he had bent Ozai's energies. Ozai was strongly set in many of his believes, more so than Aang at least, and it was for that reason that Aang all but lost himself. He was willing to compromise on all of his personal convictions. He remembered the few seconds of time that to both of them had felt like an eternity, as in those seconds time slowed in their views and they were completely investigated by one another. Ozai and Aang had each had to answer questions about their hearts in complete honesty. Ozai was strongly rooted, and so he took the lead as the young boy was unsure of many things. However, when at last the last question was asked of Aang, the question of "Would you take a life?" Aang was able to answer with absolute assurance, "NO, I would not."

In this truth about himself, he truly found the strength to fight the movement of his own body, and at the last minute lunged forward. Ozai took a deep breath, and Aang closed in. His hand grazed Ozai's face, leaving a burn on his cheek, but then bypassed him and contacted the wall beyond. The metal shell conducted the energy and dissipated it around the ship, and out its skin into the night air. The whole surround lit up a brilliant blue as bolts of lightning jumped into the storm from the Airship.

"I don't believe it, why?" Ozai demanded. "Why won't you follow through? Are you so weak?"

Aang stepped back and stared the helpless man down, "No Ozai, I won't kill you, and it's not because I'm too weak to."

"Oh, but it is Avatar." Ozai wasn't about to listen to some pointless drivel about why sparing a life was not weak. Instead, he used the area he had slowly created in his ice prison by melting some of the first layers of ice and a place to expand flame. It was then that he broke through his prison and went on the Attack. However the glow he had exuded was more than enough warning for Aang to prepare himself. Still, Ozai was ferocious and relentless, and before long they were locked in a constant atmosphere of flame. Aang was using as many bending disciplines as possible to try and knock Ozai off guard, but the ex-firelord stayed rooted and kept trading blows with Aang.

Aang would kick a burst of Air and flame at Ozai, who would side step and burst fire from his foot to cover the ground in an inferno to displace the boy. Slowly Aang worked his way back to the hole in the front of the ship. He could feel the wind pick up outside, and hear the wave grow. The storm was getting worse, or they were getting closer to the eye. When they hit the eye wall the ships below were going to need Aang's help to save them from the massive winds and waves. "I have to end this quickly." Aang advanced, two swift kicks in secession, one of fire and one of water he had gathered from the air. Ozai deflected the first, steamed (literally) through the next; however his vision was now obstructed by the steam that had ensued. Ozai breathed fire, attempting to fill the area ahead with fire, which he succeeded in doing, but as the steam and smoke cleared all he saw was a long passage painted with scattered flame. "You can run Avatar."

_Knoxium, Bow Observation Deck_

It had been a few minutes since the Airship had reach the surface of the water, and it was now floating just a few meters from the surface of the water. The anchoring cables were set in large pillars of ice several of the Waterbenders on board had created and then anchored solidly to the ground. The Arbiter was now standing at the front of the ship, directly below him was nothing but water."Excellent work captain, you managed to do exactly as I had requested in such a short amount of time. You even have some time left over. I would suggest you use it to prep for stage two."

"Stage two?" the captain gulped, he didn't like this, the pain in his lungs still fresh. "What is Stage two, sir?"

"You shall see, id suggest you move the ship the moment I disembark, I won't wait for you to be clear."

"Milord, what is it you are planning? Disembark? What – where- when?" he staggered.

"Right here, and right… about… now." And he dove, straight into the water and down, disappearing beneath the waves. The Captain wanted to try and process what had happened, but knew he couldn't, the pain in his lungs still prevalent. So instead he turned and ordered the Anchors drawn, he then shouted into a tube up to the bridge.

"Turn bow 10 to port, Elevation 15, maximum combat speed. Have the others follow! Get us out of here damn it!"

The response was a slow one from the bridge, "But sir, the Arbiter?"

"If you don't get us moving we may all very well die!" he shouted back, and as such the ship started to move at last in earnest. And not a moment too late, as the sea started to glow green below them. The arbiter had reached the Ocean's floor already. Using Waterbending he had formed a bubble of air around himself, and then froze the surface. This turned him into a bullet as he shot toward the sea floor. And as he reached it he focused. He didn't care if the ships were out of the way, it was for his plan. His tattoos began to glow green, and soon the whole world was not but that one color. He raised his Arms and shot up, the world around him trembling. And though he didn't know it, the shockwave was felt all the way in the palace of both the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom. He had said he would shake the world to its foundations, and that was exactly what he would do.

The ships barely got out of the way before the water erupted. The ship at the rear of the diamond formation of Airships got caught by this mass of water. It began to lose Altitude, but never met the ocean's surface. For as the Captain ran to the rear deck to see what was going on he saw the Ocean part below the fleet. A single tower of Earth could be seen in the distance as it rose higher and higher into the sky. But the tower was of a cone shape and slowly it widened. At the base of the cone was the true marvel. A whole section o the earth was now appearing as the water grew lighter and lighter. A massive circular Island with the tower at its center began to surface. It had to have been several miles in diameter. "Who the hell is this boy?" The Captain asked in a terrified voice, only to realize that it wasn't over. The island was still rising, and his fleet wasn't rising fast enough to stay ahead of it (or above in this case). "Full elevation! We need altitude NOW!" he shouted, and though the helm of his ship was able to respond, the rear vessel was doomed.

The Arbiter was atop the spire he had made, the island he had made. He saw the rear ship collide with the land that had suddenly risen and saw it burst into flames. "Hmm, I suppose he didn't get them out in time." The Arbiter said matter-of-factly. "Well, any cause needs a few martyrs."

The other ships barely escaped, one of them actually collided with the land but only lost the doors of the bomb deck, and still in total the death toll was too high for the Captain's liking. "Who is this son of a-! He plays with men like they are pawns in some sick game!"

"Sir, we should never have joined this campaign." The lieutenant whispered in the Captains ears as the ship turned about.

"It's a little late now don't you think lieutenant!" the Captain roared back, everyone felt the same, "All we can do is following him, have you seen what he can do? Do you not see the Island beneath us!"

"All the more reason we should flee, now, while we have the chance!" the young officer argued.

"You think he couldn't chase us down and kill every last one of us?"

"Well, no, I mean yes. But still-"

"Look, we have to play along, and bide our time."

"How long will that work?"

"Long enough, hopefully Lord Huang and the others will come to their senses soon." The Captain won the argument with this statement, and turned to direct the ship to the top of the tower. "Let's pray they do, for all our sakes."

_Avatar's Fleet, _Nearing the Eye of the Storm

"You can run, Avatar," Ozai, "But you can't hide…" He then saw why Aang retreated. The rain had stopped abruptly, and the wind was now calm. They had reached the eye. And the Avatar was clearly visible from the deck of the ship at the lead, clearly concentrating on something. "I stand corrected, you can't do either." Ozai grinned. He wasn't sure what Aang was doing, just standing there, moving his arms in various motions, but he didn't intend to find out. An honorable man wouldn't attack an enemy in the back, and though Ozai wasn't much for dishonorable acts (at least at times) he also wasn't a fool. The Avatar was too strong to not take advantage of. He had one shot left. And all he had to do was take out the Avatar and he would claim eternal victory. Even if the next avatar was born, he would never reach his full potential once the world was his.

His forces hadn't managed to board the ships as easily as the last fleet, after all this one was much larger and much more heavily defended. But that was fine. He just had to finish off the Avatar and he could easily just eliminate the others slowly, or perhaps just capture them each in turn and send them to the construction site. But first Aang must be dealt with.

It was then that Ozai saw his chance, the fire sages had informed him long ago that should he or his agents manage to kill the Avatar in the Avatar State then his reincarnation seal would be broken, and it was in that moment he noticed that the boy was starting to glow. Ozai stretched out his arm and took aim, bracing himself as he waited for the boy to enter the Avatar state. He even held the energy in a closed fist so as to disguise the attack from the allies of the boy. It burned more than anything he had ever felt but still he intended to follow through. As Aang's eyes began to glow full force Ozai released.

Bellow, Aang arrived in time to form a massive shield of air over the fleet as it passed through the Eye wall. And once they had entered the eye he was determined to keep them there. "Katara, I'm going into the Avatar State, back me up!" Aang shouted. They had long ago decided he had to avoid the avatar state until they had an effective counter measure for Ozai's 'Sun Saber' as he could easily wipe out all hope if he got a shot at Aang while he was so vulnerable. Katara nodded and took aim at the bow of the Airship. She watched for any movement, and after a few moments she noticed a small red light, she wasn't sure what she could do but she had to try something. Ozai had managed to power up without really giving them any warning and Katara wasn't sure if she could stop him. She raised her arms and formed a massive wall of water, which she threw at the Airship. Immediately following this move she began to pull the water around the ship into a dome over them, which she then froze into a shield of ice, but not before she saw he wave she had thrown vaporize before a solid beam of red light. The ice formed but she had little hope it would hold. Her mind was spinning; she should have just moved Aang. Now it may be too late, as the Ice surely wouldn't hold to that attack that could cut metal like water.

Ozai was roaring with triumph and laughter, never mind that his whole arm was streaming from the intense heat He was just waiting for the beam to contact the ice's surface and melt through. And in his anticipation, he couldn't believe his eyes.

_The Northern Water Tribe, City Walls_

"Uncle, I still can't believe it, the city has changed so much." Zuko was in awe of the new Northern Water Tribe. With the masses of new people that were flooding in as refugees the city had expanded out into the sea. It was now far larger than it had originally been, the walls were now approximately where the middle of Admiral Zhao's fleet had been anchored; nearly five miles out to sea. That was the new location of the outer wall of the city. In addition a massive area was sheltered by glaciers still further out to the sea, forming the new and much larger harbor. And as they reached the far left side edge of the city Zuko took note of where his imperial ship (by far that largest vessel there) was now being pulled into dock along the western side of the city. A massive dry dock had been constructed, as to what purpose Zuko didn't know. "What is that for Uncle?"

"Hmm- oh the dry dock, it's for ship building of course."

Zuko covered his face and sighed, "I mean, what are they building in it that would require it to be so big?"

"Oh!" Iroh exclaimed, and laughed, "I do not know, perhaps they just made it that way for fun. I'm not of the Watertribe after all."

"Though you use their bending," Zuko noted," Anyway, I'm aqueous to meet with the others and start planning out next move. We need to get our bearings."

"I couldn't agree more, but unfortunately the Avatar has yet to arrive. And even more perplexing is that the whole world seems to be aloof to what's going on."

"What? You mean the people of the Earth Kingdom haven't figured out that the Earth King has been displaced?"

"It's not like I was very public to begin with. In a sense, other than the massive number of refugees that are suddenly being forced onto ships and sent to the east, nothing has really changed for most people's everyday lives." A strange and only slightly familiar voice said.

It was none other than the Earth King, who was walking toward them at that moment, followed by several guards. Zuko bowed with the others, taking the Earth King by surprise. "Firelord Zuko, I thought I had asked you not to bow like that. Please raise your head, all of you." he said, and as the complied with surprised looks he felt the need to explain, "I am not the Earth King anymore, I have legally given up my throne to Long Feng, it had to be done to save my people." Instead the man bowed to Zuko, who shot forward to stop him.

"Don't," he said," You're not alone, I lost my throne legally as well. I suppose for all purposes I'm just Zuko now."

"I see, then call me Kuei." The Earth King said, "At least until this is over."

"Let's hope that day comes soon." Iroh said as he gazed out at the horizon. Zuko gazed as well, and he could help but wonder where Aang and the others were.

_Avatar's Fleet, Eye of the Storm_

Ozai was shocked, Katara was shocked, everyone (save Aang who was in his own little spirit world) was shocked. The Ice hadn't melted, and the beam hadn't missed. It just vanished. The heat from it may have melted the first layer of ice, but it never penetrated. The ice seemed to dissipate the beam, almost as though it never even was fired. It didn't reflect, though it did turn the whole area a bright red as the ice began to glow red from the refraction within. "Wow." Was all Katara could say, still in awe, Sokka however instantly realized that this was a breakthrough. "Grandpa, put a dome over us too. Pipsqueek (they had found him in one of the refugee colonies) tell the other Waterbenders to do the same," Sokka yelled as the fleet became encased in ice, turning it from a fleet of ships, into one of icebergs.

"What!" Ozai hissed as he saw his most potent attack just fall by the wayside. He knew he didn't have the power to use another shot, and that he didn't have the force to stop the avatar now. But maybe if he could get that Waterbender girl, or her brother, or even the little blind one he could set a trap for him at a later date. "Helmsmen, bring the ship lower, we are going to board that flagship!" he ordered into a nearby intercom tube. However his order was never carried out.

At that moment Aang's reason for entering the Avatar State became clear, he was going to bend the storm and use it as cover for the fleet. Ozai felt his ship suddenly start to rock as the protective field that Arbiter had made for them began to break apart. As Aang over took the Arbiters control from miles away, on the other side of the world, a teen with tattoos awoke from his meditation atop a massive spire. Back on the coastline of the Earth Kingdom the storm that had waged for several days, (unnaturally long) began to shrink at an alarming rate, and change direction to start moving northward.

As the Eye Wall visibly grew ever closer to Ozai's ship, which started to experience the effects of the air, and if they hit the wall the Airship would be ripped apart. Ozai shouted for more altitude and even ran to the engine room himself to add his own flam to the balloons lift mechanism. Below, Katara chanced lowering the ice shield to see the Airship begin to rise at an alarming rate. It was turning to head back into the eye and was trying to get high above the storm as soon as possible. In her mind she heard Iroh telling them that the most likely limit to Ozai's new technique was that he most likely could use it more than a few times a day. But how many shots did he have, how many did he use that day, and how confident was he that he could get through their newfound ice shields? She didn't want to find out. "Grandpa! We need to get out of here now!"

"I know, all Waterbenders to the rear of the ships!" Paku shouted as he headed there himself, they were going to add their abilities to the ships propulsion.

"It's alright," a voice that was multi-toned broke through the air; it was Aang's, "I'll get us out of here." He said with the echo from his Avatar State resounding his message around the fleet. And even to Ozai who was shocked that they were just running away.

Aboard his Airship the helmsmen requested instructions, and in his rage Ozai flung even more fire into the Airship, raising it even higher than he had intended, yet still he knew what he had to say. "Retreat, return to the firenation." He responded through a tube and then went straight back out on to the deck, catching a last glance at his prey slipping away as they left the area. "You win this one, coward."

**Okay, so I hope you like, I know it's difficult to follow and to see where the paragraph is set at, and that this massive ocean is a bit of a stretch but come on, something had to be there. Well, I'll update soon and you'll not want to miss it. I guarantee! **

**Next: Chapter 4: Yet the World Keeps Turning…**


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